Commission creates stakeholder group to craft local-hire and community benefits policy after vocal public calls for 50% local hiring

Staff presented the PUCcommunity-employment portfolio and proposed a deliberative process to review existing policies and develop a community benefits framework. Carol Eisen, office of the assistant general manager, outlined programs that have placed more than 200 people in PUC employment to date, apprenticeship shortfalls, and plans to seek outside technical expertise to help craft a broader policy.

Public commenters and community organizations pressed for stronger, enforceable local-hire commitments for the Wastewater Enterprise projects, particularly the Southeast Treatment Plant digester replacements. Espanola Jackson told commissioners that residents of Bayview Hunters Point face shoreline landfilling and safety risks from sea level rise and urged that ‘‘since itis our money...50% of the jobs go to those residents in the 10th district and the other 50% go citywide.’’ Other speakers and the Southeast Jobs Coalition proposed that no less than 50 percent of project job hours be performed by union members who live in specified ZIP codes and that 2 percent of project costs be earmarked for readiness and retention services.

Union and trades leaders told the commission that hiring-hall procedures, pre-hire agreements and regional jurisdictions complicate blanket local-hire mandates. Michael Theriault of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council explained that many trades use seniority and dispatch systems covering regions beyond San Francisco, and that any changes would require careful negotiation. "There are the two challenges paired...this is the city's money," he said, acknowledging both community need and union hiring system constraints.

Commissioner Ellis proposed amendments to staffs resolution to establish a stakeholder group to draft a policy on job creation, local hiring and community benefits and to report back with initial progress by February 1, 2010; commissioners approved the motion as amended. Staff said it would issue a statement of interest, solicit feedback via forums and written comments, and return with a more detailed process and timeline in January. The commissions action does not itself mandate a specific hiring percentage; instead it creates an inclusive platform for stakeholders to analyze feasibility, legal constraints, and targets.

Next steps: staff will post a statement of interest, hold outreach and forums, solicit technical support via an RFQ, and return to the commission in January with a plan and preliminary stakeholder input; the stakeholder group will begin work with a Feb. 1 milestone.